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Slidell City Council Shuts Down Push For Drive Thru Daiquiri Sales
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Slidell City Council Shuts Down Push For Drive Thru Daiquiri Sales
A proposal that could have opened the door for more drive thru daiquiri sales in Slidell came to a halt Tuesday night after a divided City Council voted to indefinitely table the measure.
The issue sparked debate during the August 11 City Council meeting over whether allowing drive thru service at businesses selling daiquiris would simply make an already legal purchase more convenient, or make drinking and driving easier.
Under Slidell’s current city code, drive up windows and drive thru buildings are prohibited at commercial establishments that sell or deal in alcoholic beverages.
Those supporting the proposed change argued that customers can already park their vehicles, walk inside a daiquiri shop, purchase a drink and return to their vehicle. From that perspective, allowing a drive thru would not necessarily create access to alcohol that does not already exist. It would simply make the transaction faster and more convenient.
Opponents saw that convenience as exactly the problem.
They argued that allowing customers to purchase alcoholic drinks without ever leaving their vehicles could make alcohol even more accessible to motorists and remove one more barrier between a driver and an alcoholic beverage.
Ultimately, the council voted 6 to 3 to indefinitely table the proposal.
That distinction matters.
City Attorney Thomas Schneidau explained during the meeting that indefinitely tabling the measure effectively prevents this particular proposal from being brought back before the council later. Had council members simply voted against the proposal, the issue potentially could have been challenged or brought back before the council again, possibly as early as the following meeting.
Instead, six council members chose to indefinitely table it, effectively putting an end to the proposal.
For now, Slidell’s existing prohibition on drive thru alcohol sales remains in place.
The debate, however, raised a larger question that divided the room Tuesday night: If someone can already walk into a daiquiri shop, buy a drink and immediately return to their vehicle, does a drive thru actually change anything?
Or does making alcohol easier to purchase from behind the wheel cross a line Slidell shouldn’t cross?
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